GOSSIP: Inception Director Snubbed From Oscar Nominations

The biggest Academy Award nomination upset: Christopher Nolan, who was left out of the best director category for Inception.

Seems Oscar voters picked True Grit directors Joel and Ethan Coen over him. All the other 2011 DGA nominees — Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan), David Fincher (The Social Network), David O. Russell (The Fighter) and Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech) — were nominated for an Academy Award; Nolan was the only glaring omission.’

The director has been snubbed by the Academy before: He was nominated by the DGA for both 2000’s Memento and 2008’s The Dark Knight, but when it came time for the Oscars, the Academy decided to put someone else in the directing category.

Paul Franklin, who is among the Inception team nominated for Achievement in Visual Effects, tells THR: “I think Chris did an astonishing job, it was a real shame. But nobody can really predict it. That’s what keep it exciting — it’s unpredictable.”

Fans are already complaining about Nolan’s snub on Twitter.

“No Christopher Nolan for Director on Inception sucks but hey that’s old ppl for you,” one fan complained. “They had to think to hard to figure the movie out.”

Another Tweeted, “Hey Academy…who incepted your minds with the idea that Christopher Nolan didn’t deserve to be nominated for Best Director this year!? WTF!”

A third person chimed in: “No best director nomination for Christopher Nolan = No Oscars this year.”

On the plus side, Inception is up for eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture.